The Master Sword Chronicles
by MagmarFire
Summary: The first installment of the Creation Duology. As an enigma opens the door to an alternate plane known as the Realm of the Moon, the citizens of Hyrule are in danger of succumbing to the infinite darkness that lurks within...
1. The Unlocked Door

**All right, here we go! This is my first fanfic ever, really, so please go easy on me. However, even though it is my first, it's quite old--I started writing this about two-and-a-half years ago, back in around February 2006, so obviously the quality is not up-to-date with my current writing quality. I will try to "repair" it as much as I can as the updates come.**

**Anyways, enjoy! Any and all reviews are appreciated, so don't feel shy to drop a line!**

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Ramont was slumped down, gazing at the yellow crystal sitting on his desk. A couple days prior, he nearly tripped upon this crystalline substance on his trip to the market. Okay, he _did_ trip, and it didn't help that the shrub his poor face landed on was sharp and prickly from the recent lack of rain. He remembered the dust in his face as he cursed at the rock after looking back in anger. Something puzzled him about the rock, however... Even though the sun was out at full intensity, the strange rock looked like it was giving off radiance on its own accord. He was entranced by it... It was almost begging him to take it with him to study. His scientific curiosity began teasing him like it usually did whenever something of the sort revealed itself, so it wasn't long before he gave in.

After he returned home from browsing the Bazaar for food and more scientific equipment, Ramont was up all night trying to look through his books on minerals and the like, but it was a futile attempt; the book said nothing about such a luminous gem. He yawned loudly, this one being one of the countless yawns that entire night. Although he was exhausted from the all-nighter, multiple blood vessels still burst from his forehead briskly from his wild goose chase.

Ramont gazed through his window, looking upon the dawn of the sun over the beautiful Lake Hylia, ripples from the wind hardly visible, making the water look like a giant natural mirror. His heart sank, for he knew that he had no rest whatsoever, although the view of dawn over the lake calmed him down a little.

_I can't believe it,_ thought Ramont as his eyes drooped over his pupils. _Eyrilyn is not going to be happy about this._

Ramont's wife and lab partner, Eyrilyn, was walking down the stairs to the lab well rested and ready to look at the crystal. She walked quietly down the stairs, thinking that Ramont was asleep, freezing in place when she accidentally stepped on the particularly creaky step. Hearing no stirring from the sudden noise, she sighed and continued climbing down, quiet as a mouse.

Ramont, rather aware of his wife's presence, looked up and found her looking out the kitchen window right next to the lab. He knew that his goose was cooked when it came to remaining undetected, so Ramont gave up and greeted her with a tired, "Good morning."

Eyrilyn turned on the spot, startled from the instant noise behind her. "Don't _ever_ scare me like that again!" she cried, breathing heavily, her eyes wide from alarm.

"S-sorry, dear. I didn't mean to," Ramont apologized as he nervously adjusted his glasses, which were precariously dangling on the tip of his nose.

"It's all right," she said in relief. She was about to turn toward the window again when her senses suddenly struck her. "What are you doing up, Ramont? I thought I told you to go to sleep at midnight!"

"I was...er..." _Here it comes..._ he thought, his eyes closed in dreadful anticipation of the scolding that he would soon receive.

"You know I don't like it when you stay up all night like that; you'll be dead all week, now!"

"Oh, quit acting like my mother," Ramont said indignantly. He felt sorry straight away when he looked at her fair, well-carved face. Her cheekbones were high; her eyes, however, sharp from her husband's sudden strike of tongue. He saw her swiftly and roughly get her gold-brown hair out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, Eyrilyn. I don't know what came over me."

"Your apology is accepted again, but still, you shouldn't be up all night. When you do that, I hardly see you during daylight."

"I know, but when I see some anomaly that I want to research, I push my mind to twice it can actually do."

"Yeah, yeah…" Eyrilyn said, hoping to end the argument. Looking at the desk, she decided to change the subject. "So, you didn't find anything, huh?"

"Nothing whatsoever, but I looked at it so much that I think that I could draw an extremely accurate sketch of it in my sleep, if that counts for something." Eyrilyn chuckled from this remark, understanding what Ramont must have felt during research.

Eyrilyn walked over to the desk (the crystal still glowing ever so faintly), trying to avoid tripping on the ocean of books and other research debris on the floor. Ramont was never the sort to clean up when he was done with something, advocating that organization "would only slow me down," and that lead to quite a few spats with Eyrilyn in the past. As of late, however, he was trying harder to pick up after himself; he was just too busy the previous night to do anything about it.

When she got to the desk, she scoffed at the rock, knowing that they poured tiring hours on trying to learn more about it and that they couldn't. She looked at the bookshelf on the other side of the room, and saw that every book but a few was taken off. She recognized one of the books by its cover right away and rushed over the mess, thinking that maybe the answer would be right in there.

She grabbed the book and said, "Ramont, did you check this book?"

Ramont looked over at Eyrilyn, unexcited. "No... That book is about historical objects, and I wouldn't think that the crystal is one of them."

Eyrilyn could tell that his mind and body were beginning to shut down, as was his patience. She herself, however, wasn't ready to give up on it all, and so she walked toward the desk to skim through it to find something. On her way over, however, she unsurprisingly tripped over a thick encyclopedia on the ground and landed on some sharp objects (most likely baby Shell Blade shells; she couldn't really tell from all the clutter and with her attention directed at her side), which was exactly what she was trying to prevent. From shock, she let go of the book and let it fly forward to open in the middle pages as it hit the ground. Ramont dashed in panic to his wife's side to help her up.

"Are you all right!?" Ramont exclaimed, deeply concerned for the welfare of his wife.

"Yeah, don't worry..." Eyrilyn said, although the sharp pain in her side was very evident in her expression. She could also feel a small hint of warm water on her outfit—her shirt mainly brown leather and white denim—even though she instantly recognized the "water" as blood.

"Oh, no you're not; you're bleeding!"

"Now who's sounding like whose mother?" she said with a sly smile that was slightly marred by pain. Ramont ignored her and dashed to the herbal medicines cabinet.

"Sit down. I'll go get something for that wound." Eyrilyn obeyed, but she picked up the orange-colored book that she dropped on her way back. She figured that she might as well entertain herself as she was waiting to be treated. As she sat, she noticed that some of the pages were bent from the fall, so she made an attempt to straighten them. Still, while she was doing so, she noticed a bizarre diagram of some kind of doors. These doors both had symbols of the Triforce—the essence of the gods in the shape of three equilateral triangles forming one larger equilateral triangle—and symbols of the moon extolled just below them. Intrigued, she read a passage that followed the diagram:

_Shown above are the Door of Time and the Door of the Moon. Both of these doors were most likely made around the same time, although the exact time is inconclusive. The Door of Time, shown on the top right, is a mythic stone door that is said that leads to the Sacred Realm of Hyrule, a realm that is said to hold the Triforce. (See also_ Triforce_.) Records say that this door has never been opened, so its true contents are unknown._

The Door of the Moon, shown on the top left, is a similar door that is said that leads to a land of pure, evil power, the exact opposite of the Door of Time. There are many claims that many tainted hearts have traveled through this particular portal, only to never return. Legends say that only one of true evil power may enter this door unscathed, but no such person has ever been known to have been recognized. This door's location is currently unknown. However, it is interesting to note that only the desert-dwelling Gerudo tribe acknowledges its existence.

Eyrilyn read no further as Ramont walked toward the desk, holding some herbal medicine that made her nervous. She usually didn't mind the pain from a flesh wound, but whenever she had one treated, the thought of putting something into her body simply unnerved her. For the sake of keeping her husband from snapping again in irritation, she tried to freeze her body in place, resisting any urge to high-tail it out of the building.

Ramont wasn't particularly happy with putting his wife in pain, either. Honestly, he'd rather have a professional do it for him, but since there wasn't one within twenty miles of their home, he tried swallowing his fear and approached his wife's injury. Desperately trying to keep his mind off his wife's fear of being treated, he glanced at the passage that Eyrilyn was reading and inquired what it was.

"Oh, it's just something about two doors that lead to some 'Sacred Realm' and a 'land of evil.' I doubt it has anything to do with—" she replied, interrupted.

"You mean the Door of Time and the Door of the Moon, don't you?"

"Yeah. How'd you know? You never read that book before, did you?"

"I've done a lot of _other_ reading in life, Eyrilyn. It's amazing what you can get when you read. Now, hold still," Ramont said as he walked around toward her wounded side and applied the medicine. The medicine soaked through her outfit and sank into the wound. The pain immediately disappeared, no side-effect stings appearing whatsoever.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed, very shocked at the quality of medicine that he'd given her and relieved that she didn't have to endure any of the stinging commonly associated with healing wounds.

"No problem," Ramont said with an affectionate smile.

Many hours passed as they searched the book (and three others on the shelf) for anything on the stone when a large BOOM about the size of a train hitting a concrete wall sounded outside with a small tremor. Both Ramont and Eyrilyn jumped in surprise, toppling their chairs over.

"What was that!?" Eyrilyn yelled, her heart nearly popping out of her chest.

"I don't know," Ramont replied, breathing very heavily. "I'm going outside to check it out." He walked out quickly, despite the urge to hesitate, and Eyrilyn followed silently and looked outside. A man concealed in a black cloak with a large scepter was floating in midair in front of them. The scepter was one of which Ramont had never seen; it was made of wooden coils wound around each other to form the body, with the large spindles forming an empty basin at the end. His face wasn't visible, but that didn't matter to Ramont much. After all, he never saw such a guy like that before. After staring at him for a bit, the man bellowed,

"WHERE IS IT!?"

Somewhat confused, Ramont said, "We have nothing of which you are looking for! Please leave!"

"Those who deny my arrival must have something relevant to my request. Now, give me what I came for so I can depart! I know you have it!"

"What makes you say that?"

"I sensed its changing locations and followed it here. It's like a part of me, and its voice is yelling at me loud and clear! Now give it to me!"

"Give you _what_!?"

"My Contovelliam!"

"Which is…?"

"That's not your concern! Just hand it over!"

Ramont pondered angrily for a bit and wondered if the yellow crystal in the lab was the substance that this man had mentioned. Considering its unique properties and how it wasn't well known at all, he caved in at the request. "One moment!" He went inside the lab, swiped the crystal off the table and walked toward the door, only to be stopped by his wife, her hand holding the door shut.

"Ramont, don't do this! I'm sure that he will use that crystal for ill when he gets it!"

"If he doesn't get what he wants, he'll kill us! We must give it to him."

"NO! He'll probably kill us anyway! What use would we be to someone who's already found what he was after?" Unfortunately, Eyrilyn was never one to hesitate to do what her primal intellect would tell her. Ergo, she briskly stormed out the door to tell the man to leave. Suddenly, a blinding flash of light polluted the chilly lake air; and Ramont, his heart sinking like a ship's anchor in deep water, raced outside and saw instantly that his wife was no longer there.

"NO!" Ramont shouted as he walked out the door. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER!?"

"Do you have that which is mine?" The cloaked man said calmly, quite contradictory to his previous behavior. Ramont couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the insane man's bipolar personality. Maybe the crystal really _was_ what he was after, and sensing its presence, he felt relieved. Ramont didn't dwell on it long, however, for defensive instincts and love for his wife forced his blood to boil, almost to the point of proverbial superheating.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!?" Ramont repeated his demand loudly.

"Hmm... Yes, you do, don't you?" the man quietly breathed out, avoiding the question, which certainly sounded like he was mocking him.

He took the taunt as a challenge, and his blood felt like it was going to erupt from his veins and arteries. "You want the crystal!? Here!" Ramont threw the crystal at the man, hoping that it would hit him and shatter both it and the floating man's ribs. It was all for naught, however, since the crystal suddenly stopped in midair, ending its deadly flight right in front of his face.

"Now, where is she!?"

"Don't worry; you'll soon find out," the man said coldly. There was another blinding flash of light, and Ramont left without so much as one last look at his house. His mind was filled with blackness that he no longer knew himself—though if it were for a short time or permanently, he didn't know.

The man in the cloak attached his newly-reunited crystal to his scepter, and the stone shone with star-like intensity. He laughed, glad to have his longtime plans continue once more. As if to test his power, he charged up his scepter and released a fireball at the laboratory, blowing the entire structure up as if an entire stockpile of gunpowder was lit. The man then flew off northward, leaving only a flock of birds and a column of smoke visible over Lake Hylia.

Many hours passed again with the moon soaring into the night sky. He finally reached the Desert Colossus, an area that housed the Spirit Temple and a few sleeping desert animals. He landed on the front steps leading into the large stone structure and walked inside, chuckling that he was so close... Yes, he was closer than he ever had been. It took a while to find his way through all of the twisting and turning corridors, but he eventually found what he had been looking for: a purple door glowing in the leaking moonlight from the ceiling of a normally inaccessible room.

"Finally! The Door of the Moon: a door that opens only to Contovelliam crystal!"

He stepped forward and held up his scepter. The earth around him rumbled as the door slowly swung open and a beam of dark energy shot out, releasing a vast amount of sound that caused the ground to vibrate violently. It had the potential to numb his legs, but he was too busy concentrating on his success, mentally writing a memoir.

"Alas! Now that the Door of the Moon has been unlocked, my plans for this world can finally start to materialize..." he said, even though he could hardly hear himself over the ear-shattering noise of the opening portal.

All of the sound woke every denizen of Hyrule that day; in particular, a child that would prove himself as a legendary hero that would lock true darkness away forever.

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**Good? Bad? Medium? Chuck Norris? Any input you have will be graciously accepted!**


	2. The Awakening of Hyrule Town

**Okay, here's Chapter 2! It's a bit shorter than the previous one, but future chapters will be longer. I hope you enjoy!**

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_**Chapter 2: The Awakening of Hyrule Town**_

Link awoke abruptly in the street as he heard a noise equivalent to that of an ongoing explosion. Alarmed, he clamped his ears shut and looked up at the darkened sky. In the west, a purple beacon shot up into the cosmos, and from the direction, one could only conclude that it was coming from the desert—or at least somewhere around there.

Screaming could be heard all around, and even though Link tried closing his ears as best as he could, the excess sound still seemed to pierce his head and develop a migraine. People rushed out of their homes to take a glance at the beam, most still groggy, but the alarm was still evident in their expressions. The dogs that were barking only added to the noise, and the irritation caused him to begin questioning his sanity.

Fortunately, the large beam of light started dissipating, and the massive, ongoing explosion of sound began to wane. Soon, he was able to release his ears, which were now hurting from the pressure. Rubbing them gingerly, he caught a small glimpse of the pandemonium going around him as the awakened civilians were on the verge of a panic riot.

_Geez, can't there be at least_ some_ peace in town tonight?_ Link complained to himself, tempted to shut his now-recovering ears again. He tried to avoid the bustling, albeit completely scared out of skin, townsfolk, completely failing, however, when he collided head-on into a woman desperately carrying along her young daughter and infant son.

"Watch where you're going!" she admonished, refusing to look back, her son wailing in her arms. Link tried to ignore the rude woman; he could understand her situation, but regardless, her reaction to the collision still left him a bit goaded.

The almost-musical medley of hooves beating on stone began building in volume to his left, and soon after, armored horses carrying soldiers donning polished steel armor raced past toward the entrance of town. Although not nearly as panicked as the rest of the people in town, he was, nevertheless, curious of their intentions and of the state.

Link trailed them to the main gate, which was, as per usual at nighttime, closed off by the drawbridge.

"LET DOWN THE BRIDGE!" one of the knights shouted with a raised gauntlet, and the gate's patrol complied, grunting as he turned the lever keeping the bridge upright. It looked as if it were lightly pulling itself down, no one else needing to be concerned about the speed of its descent. With a loud, wooden KLUNK, the drawbridge locked itself into the ground, and the sentry gave the "thumbs-up" to allow the knights passage.

"To the desert!" commanded the knight that appeared to be the leader, and his subordinates charged toward their destination in a wave of galloping horses. Link dashed after them, only to be denied by the guard close by.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked the boy garbed in green.

"Er…" Link froze. There was no way he was going to get himself out of this, given both his social status, age, and the aloofness that the guards of Hyrule Castle were well known for.

"HA! I know what you're doing, boy! Get outta here and go back to bed! We can't have a ten-year-old dying from something that is none of his business."

"I'm eleven," Link said cynically, firing a pierce glare at the grey-bearded soldier with the missing tooth. He was wearing armor that looked dull, as if he were trying to polish it with oil. Around his neck was chain mail, which he wore like a scarf. Link failed to see the point of wearing something like that around his neck, but he didn't bother dwelling on it.

"Whatever. The point is that we have this problem taken care of, so go back to the playground where you belong," the sentry wheezed crossly. He appeared to have been suffering from a really bad chest cold, made blatant by the man's rearing back and coughing up one of his lungs. Link clutched his throat and grimaced as he saw some blood sputtering out.

He turned around and walked away, thoroughly irritated and grossed out. He was always scorned because he was either "too young" or "too weak" to do something, but he was always older and stronger than what he got credit for. That's not to say that he was the strongest in the world, for he was somewhat weak compared to other kids his age. Kids would have stick fights every so often to check their prowess with the sword, as well as their strength. He obviously found competitions like these appealing, although he never one a single match, much to his dishonor.

Huffing in anger, Link realized that there was no way through the main gate. Providentially, there was a useable passageway by the Temple of Time that he had discovered around five years ago. There was a hole that led right to the moat, and, had the need arisen, he often used the hole to sneak out. He kept it a secret, knowing that anyone who discovered it, especially guards, would ask contractors to seal it.

Link crawled through the tunnel and noticed that it was beginning to become too constricting to use anymore. It was weathered from wind and rain, so the contours of the tunnel were smooth, at least. He charged right through the spider webs and marching ants without fear, and after a few minutes of traversing through the tunnel, he finally saw moonlight. When he was at the tunnel's edge, he fell into the water and felt a bitter cold sensation throughout his entire body. His head fell below the water from the fall, and the cold urged him to quickly resurface and replenish the air in his lungs out of alarm.

His density being too high to float high enough to grab a ledge, Link let the current of the moat carry him until he came across a very small set of steps that ascended up to the moat's bank.

Link stumbled up the stairs, shivering from the intense cold, and was drenched from the water. He put his hands on his knees, quickly recovering his breath, and began to wring out whatever part of his clothes he could, all with limited success. The feeling of a cold liquid in his clothes in the cold night air left him shivering and feeling overall uncomfortable. He shook his dripping hair dry as much as he could and wrung out his favorite hat, which matched his green clothing perfectly, and put it snuggly back on his head when he was done.

He stepped out of the small puddle he created and made an effort to shake off the cold. After breaking into a jog, he began warming up, and, thus, decided to keep at that pace for a while as he headed west to follow the knights.

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A few hours passed until the sun started to rise and Link reached Lon Lon Ranch, the place in Hyrule that supplies only the best livestock and dairy products. Link, thirsty from the traveling, was tempted to go in and ask for milk. He dreamed of the deliciousness of the drink that he could get—the luscious feeling of the white fluid in his mouth, the taste of the nutrients that lie inside, and the rejuvenating energy erupting forth from his stomach to power him through the rest of the day.

Unfortunately for his parched throat, however, he had absolutely no money on him, the feeling in his pockets being nothing but fabric. Disappointed, he continued walking, the hours continuing to fly by.

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Link traveled and traveled until he finally saw the outlines of desert monoliths. His spirits rose greatly as he discovered that his trip to the desert was almost over. His legs, although weary from traveling, broke into a run, dust flying behind their master.

He suddenly stopped on the spot when he saw what looked like an injured soldier desperately trying to crawl away. Link dashed up to the soldier and found that his armor was charred a strange purple. It looked like some of the metal was melted off, and his helmet was cracked—the flesh that was held inside seemed to have the bizarre yet gruesome mix of a burn and bleeding.

Kneeling at the knight's side, Link cried, "What happened to you!?"

"What are…you doing here, kid?" he sputtered out painfully.

"That's not important now. Just tell me what's going on."

The soldier took a quick, deep breath before beginning. "We…were attacked. We went over the bridge crossing the canyon… Some Gerudo warriors were waiting by the fortress, but they appeared to be just as…alarmed by the sudden explosion as we were. They let us pass and guided us toward where they thought the beam originated…

"When we got there…all hell broke loose. Strange fire was shooting us from the left, right, and above. We couldn't fight them off; we didn't know who it was who was attacking us…so we…ran—UGH!" The soldier clutched at his abdomen, and Link saw that it, too, was both burned and bleeding. "I'm the…only one who managed to come out alive… Apparently, whoever it was didn't want to finish the job on me."

Link looked at the poor soldier in pity…and then, deep inside him, came the acidic feeling of rage. He really didn't know the man very well, but he at least knew him enough to sympathize him and garner his respect to the point of being referred to as "kid."

"I…won't make it…so there's not much time to explain… Please…I have a friend known as Mardin up in the mountains. Please…seek him out… He'll know what to do…" The soldier then died on the spot. There was nothing graceful about it, as much of the library books that Link read had depicted. He was simply gone.

Link carried the soldier off the road gently, seeing that what had attacked the poor soldier could very well soon do the same to every person in Hyrule. He took a glance at the purple sheath that was in the soldier's possession. A lone, scorched sword made of pure Damascus steel was lying snuggly inside. Strange spider-like monsters dwelled in the mountains, which he knew from personal experience, and he was aware that it wouldn't be safe to go unarmed. Knowing the soldier wouldn't need them anymore, he took the sheathed sword and thanked him, wishing that he rest peacefully.

Taking the soldier's advice with a new weapon in hand, Link turned and started another trip across the country toward Death Mountain.

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**Here ya go! Please review!**


	3. The March to Death Mountain

**Hoo... Managed to spruce up another chapter for an update tonight... I hope you enjoy!**

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_**Chapter 3: The March to Death Mountain**_

Turning around was quite an irritating decision for Link; he had traveled for hours and hours to lead an investigation of his own, ultimately going to find out that his mission was going to change to a search in the opposite direction. Sure, he was glad to help out and all, but he used up most of his energy to obtain that information—to find the man who would help him, he'd need to travel at least twice the distance he walked, and he was well aware that it would be extremely taxing. He mentally groaned but, nevertheless, began his trip.

By the time we went past Lon Lon Ranch again, the sun was making its daily descent over the horizon and painting the vast array of cirrus clouds gold and pink. His throat felt like it was on fire, and the colors in the sky reminded him of an assortment of fruit, all filled with succulent juices that were sure to quench his thirst temporarily. Because of this, he tried to avoid looking upwards.

An hour had passed. The sun had completely set, and the moon was enjoying its debut in the northern sky. Fortunately, Zora River was only a few miles off. Not only did it mean that Link could soothe his sore throat, but it was also a sign of being close to Kakariko Village. He sighed with relief and entertained himself with the possibility of sleeping somewhere more decent than in the streets or, goddesses forbid, in the dirt.

He walked on, seeing a moonlit silhouette of Hyrule Castle. The night breeze playfully pushed on the flags perched high up—though, given the distance, they were quite hard to see. He thought he saw a hawk or owl soaring above the turrets of the castle, but quickly turned away, for he was fast approaching the bridge that crossed the river.

Deeply thankful, he gulped down as much as he could when he reached the bridge. He welcomed the cool, soothing feeling of the liquid coming into contact with his throat and the feeling of his stomach as it filled like a bag, feeling like it was on the verge of bursting, as if he had had a huge meal. At that time of day in particular, the river was very cold, but aside from the brain freeze he got from consuming all that water in such a short time, he could care less—we was just happy that he could be properly hydrated.

After wiping his mouth dry on his sleeve, he looked ahead and saw chimney smoke, remembering that Kakariko Village was only a few hundred paces away. He practically flew up the staircase that led to the town limits and felt the vast amount of water sloshing in his stomach.

When he reached the top, he came upon a gate that was secured by a lone soldier. He himself hardly came here, so he caught the guard's attention with the desire for directions. "Hi!" Link greeted.

"Hello. Welcome to Kakariko Village," the knight said monotonously, as if he'd read it off a cue card.

"Uh…hey, do you know anyone by the name of Mardin? He's supposed to be living somewhere near Death Mountain."

"Hmm…" the knight said, deeply thinking. "So many weirdoes have been coming by lately that it's hard to remember who's who… Mardin…" After a few seconds of scratching his thin beard, the knight said, "Nope, never heard of him. Sorry."

Link's shoulders drooped in disappointment. "Do you know anyone who _might_ know him?"

"Hmm… Well, I'm not particularly sure, but there's someone here who has secret connections pretty much everywhere, as far as I know. The people around here call her Learto, but she's probably asleep now. I mean, who wouldn't be? It's 2:00 in the morning, for Din's sake! You'd best find a place to sleep yourself."

The guard looked incredibly tired, and Link decided not to press the matter further. "Thanks, sir," he said as he walked off into the village. It was mainly just a small neighborhood of run-down houses. The roofs looked like years of bad weather have stripped them apart, and the wood was transformed into a pale gray, though it was hard to tell because of the substantial lack of light. Despite the need of touching up, the village's major highlight was the giant windmill that watched over it like a manmade vulture. It was once used to grind corn and wheat into flour, but became neglected after grinders that could be installed into small homes for the same purpose were invented. Nonetheless, no one decided to shut it down or even dismantle it, possibly because the wooden clunks were easy on the ears.

Another attraction of the village was the graveyard. Many stories claimed it to be haunted, which earned its overrated publicity. An intrigued Link had a yearning to explore it to try out his new sword, but he resisted so he could find time to look for shelter. He was hardly picky about places to sleep if there were options, but the feeling of sleeping on stone streets or the dirt left him feeling uneasy—the stone was very uncomfortable, and the bugs were just…well, annoying. He didn't mind them during the day, but it was a different story when he was trying to sleep.

_Guess the windmill's the only place where I'll ever get any sleep,_ he thought groggily, the feeling of sleep beginning to control him. He didn't give too much thought about the building's architecture as he walked inside. The windmill had an unusual rotating platform in the middle of the room that took up most of the area on the floor—he assumed that's where the grinding took place when it was widely used. Large deposits of hay were littered around the perimeter of the room, and he plopped himself down on the largest one he could find.

His thoughts were bent upon all of the events that occurred through the day, but he was too exhausted to feel that he had to worry about them. After only a few minutes, sleep finally came to him in a wave of dreams.

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A few hours later, Link awoke with a start from the ruckus of a cucco that had perched on a window high up on the wall.

_Stupid bird_, he thought irritably, getting up on shaky legs. He was still really tired, having only about four or five hours of sleep after a long day on foot.

He ambled out of the windmill groggily, and the sunlight that reached his eyes blinded him for a moment. The ground excreted the aroma of dew, easing his irritability a bit. Trying to wake up, he began a small stroll around the village and let his eyes adjust to the lighting. An entire trip around Kakariko Village was never a long one, but it still did a good job of waking him up and letting him reflect on what happened the day before. He perked up immediately when he remembered that he had to find the person Learto, but wondered hopelessly about how he was to come across this individual.

This question was so to be answered when Link found an elderly man pacing in front of the well near the windmill. He figured that this would be a good place to start searching.

"Hello, sir. Sir?"

The man turned around and stared at the young boy. The man was ancient, probably in his seventies or eighties. His body was extremely thin and looked fragile, like a simple tap on the shoulder would result in a broken bone. The robes he wore looked just as old as he was—they were slightly torn in a few places and colored a badly faded maroon.

"Yes?" he said weakly, but when he took a second look at him, he lightened up a bit. "Oh, thought you were someone else…" He put his fist over his mouth and let out a small cough. "I don't recall seeing you before."

"I don't get out that often," Link said plainly.

"Well, if you're from the castle, I can see that. I hardly see any of you city folk visiting a backwater village like this for a vacation. If you're new to the place, you should probably try ol' Helsír's bread rolls down that way. Pretty good stuff, them…" His focus on Link trailed off to the side, clutching his stomach as he felt it rumble in hunger.

"I'm…afraid I'm not here to sight-see," Link replied. "I just wanted to ask you if you knew anyone by the name of Learto."

The man snapped his head back in Link's direction. "Ah, yes! She's a very good friend of mine! She saved my life once, you know. It was half a century ago, and we were out in the field by the forest…"

Link could easily see where this conversation was going, knowing from personal experience of occasional, yet countless, rants given to him by the monks in the Temple of Time. He'd often sit at the temple, intently listening to the monks' stories for hours on end. Granted, he really didn't get most of the philosophical things they said, but it was good storytelling nevertheless. However, he was well aware of the time constraint, and impatience began nipping at him from the inside.

"I'm sorry," he interrupted after the man mentioned something about a large cucco swarm, "but do you know where she lives? This is very urgent."

"It's all right, young sir," the man chuckled. "I sometimes tell more than is needed, and I apologize for my rudeness. Anyway, you say that you need to see Learto? I can indeed take you to her. Follow me."

Link obediently followed the man as he turned toward the entrance and sped. To Link's amazement, for an old man, he sure had quick feet. The distance to Learto's abode was rather short, so Link didn't lag behind too much from his lack of speed. He was led to one of the large houses, one that was more impressively well kept and decorated than all the others around it, leaving him to believe that Learto was an aristocrat of some kind.

After climbing a stairway leading up to the door of the large house, the man opened it for Link and ushered him inside. The man shut the door—well, slammed it, rather—which beckoned an angry elderly voice: "Keep it down, will you!?"

Ignoring the voice, Link stared in awe, as he was seldom in wealthy people's houses. All around him was what looked to be part of a library. There were shelves upon shelves of books everywhere he could see. The books were all arranged by color, and they added to the scholastic, yet artistic, atmosphere that it had nailed so well.

The man led him away from the door and toward the maze of bookshelves. The floor was well swept, much unlike the streets of Hyrule Town; and the wall was adorned with expensive, hanging décor and paintings that you'd see in a museum. Even the old man looked like he had a hard time getting through the confusing area, but after a few minutes, they found themselves in front of a set of ascending stairs.

Sitting at the table in the middle of the room was an elderly woman in a plain white nightgown; her green eyes were drowning in the many pages of the book that she was reading, she herself hardly taking notice of her visitors. The man covered his mouth into another cough, which switched her focus onto the two visitors.

"Oh, hello, Mert. Nice of you to drop by," the woman said, sounding quite annoyed. Link didn't take much of a glance at her, since he was a shy person around affluent people. Instead, he just glared at his feet.

"Hi, Learto. I've brought with me someone who needs your help, it seems."

Learto put down her book face-down before turning to face Link. "Oh? And who might you be?"

"Um…I'm Link. I…uh…heard from somebody that you might know someone named Mardin. Is this true?" He tried his best to make eye contact as he was being addressed, but the best he could do was to glance at her thin shoulder.

She stood up and began pacing around the room, sighing in thought. "Well, Mardin, as I remember, was a craftsman that once lived in this village. It was he who ran this entire place, since he was the one who built the very windmill here and the one who provided every villager with one of his inventions. A genius, that man…

"However, he was such a great craftsman that everyone wanted more and more of his inventions. He eventually got tired from all of the villagers' demands, so he moved away to Death Mountain, hoping to silence them and such... I haven't gotten a message from him in years, but the last time I heard from him, he was studying alchemy and objects of certain magical properties." She turned back to him wearily and took a sip of some of her tea sitting on the table.

"But no news is good news, I suppose... If you wish to seek him, go to Goron City. He supposedly lives in one of the rooms there."

Link's brain practically swam in all of the info that was given to him, and he was ecstatic to get the news. Grinning widely, he exclaimed, "Thank you so much!"

Learto smiled at his enthusiasm. "You're welcome," she acknowledged, sipping more of her tea and glaring down into the cup and sighing when she realized that it had emptied. "I never make myself enough for one sitting…" Shrugging to herself, she offered both Mert and Link some biscuits on an elegant-looking plate. Mert quickly accepted and stuffed his face hungrily. The crumbs that fell from his mouth dropped to the floor, much to the lady's disdain. Link, however, accepted only a couple and nibbled on them lightly. He could feel his stomach fill up from the rather meager biscuits and was surprised as to how much punch that each one packed at his hunger.

"Thank you again, ma'am. I'd better be going now if I want to get there by sunset." Link then ran towards the door, said goodbye to both Mert and Learto, and dashed to the Death Mountain gate.

The gate was wide open when he reached it after running up another flight of stairs. He looked up into the early morning sky, taking a good look at the rocky mountain that protruded from the surface a few miles away. Encircling the mountain's peak was a rather thin, reddish cloud of energy. Typically, the clouds were colored like any other cloud in the firmament, but to him, the clouds were on fire. Something certainly wasn't right, and Link felt rather uncertain about climbing up, but this was the only way to fulfill the requests of a murdered soldier.

Link headed up the road, looking at the giant cave looming ahead. As he apprehensively went closer to the entrance to take a closer look, a large roar sounded from the inside. For a second, he mistook it for an explosion of some sort, but either way, he stepped back in recoil. _No use getting hurt in there… I'll just keep climbing._

He toddled about a mile up the mountain until he heard what sounded like rocks rolling downhill. He looked ahead, and he saw something coming in his direction. Yelping in panic, he ran out of the way and landed into the dust at the side. He pulled himself back up and sighed with relief, a cloud of dust flying off him as he dusted himself.

The sky had grown dark and slightly red—just what he had expected before the climb. He carefully leaned off the cliff and looked down, shuddering as he saw tiny pebbles tumbling down the grooves as gravity tugged on them. A swelling feeling of pride inflated his chest as he saw Kakariko Village at the bottom. The old buildings looked like blocks, and he half-wished that whatever he had left of his inner child would have a little fun moving them around. He squinted as he noticed the minute-looking townsfolk going into their homes and lighting their fires for the oncoming night.

Link, wishing to limit his seeing the sights, leaned away from the cliff and turned around, the entrance to Goron City practically welcoming him with open arms.

* * *

**I'm not completely satisfied about how this chapter turned out, but I still think that it's considerably better than the original version. Please review, as usual!**


	4. Fighting Fire with Fire

**Man... That took quite awhile, didn't it? I apologize for the wait, but I finally have it spruced up. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Fighting Fire with Fire**_

Link boldly marched through the doorway leading into the humble town that was Goron City. The city itself was only one large room about the size of an immense cathedral, separated by about three or four floors of tough earth. Ahead, Link could make out a small platform hung by a trio of rusty chains, openly displaying a glimmering crimson stone outlined with gold.

Looking around, he spotted a set of earthen stairs to his left that lead to a lower level. Weary from climbing the mountain for most of the day, he took his time going down the flight of steps, taking care not to slip and fall. By the time he got to the end, there was an awe-inspiring statue waiting for him. It was typically the shape of a giant urn, decorated around the top with designs that made it look like it had four faces similar to that of a Goron—a large bear-like creature whose lot in life is to eat rocks and curl up into a ball and roll away—the city's obvious namesake. The statue's size matched the height of about three of the city's floors and could've easily matched the size of one of the buildings in Kakariko Village. Its color was similar to the color of the walls and floor, so it was clearly made of volcanic rock.

Link was just simply captivated by the statue, one of the faces staring down at him intently. It was kind of like he was being watched, and as he thought this, a shiver went down his spine. However, not for one second did he take his eyes off it—the face's expression said only one thing to him: _I can see you._

Link's attention came back to him straight away when he fell over as he was hit with what felt like a battering ram, but Link rarely came across battering rams that cried out in frustration.

"Hey, get out of my way, you filthy human!"

Link got up, dazed—yet thankful that he finally regained focus. Half-wishing to thank the person who ran him over, he turned and found a Goron standing right next to him. This Goron was on the particularly large side…and looked ready to pound his face in.

"Oh, man, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there," Link said painfully, his face melting in embarrassment.

"How can you possibly expect me to believe you!? I mean, look at me! Even a _blind_ person couldn't miss me!" the Goron huffed as he curled back into a ball.

Link moved out of the way disdainfully, and the large Goron continued going about his business ("Stinkin' human…!" the Goron grumbled as he rolled off).

After brushing off any dust on his clothing, he turned around and noticed another stairway somewhere near the other end of the room and made his way down to the bottom floor. Here, he could actually come up close to the large statue, but he hugged the wall in hopes of not falling under the strange spell again. The bottom floor was colored a little differently than the other floors, as it appeared darker and harder than average rock. It was adjacent to a couple other rooms, as far as he could see, one of the doorways decorated with a rug branded with a strange pattern. The doorway was wide open, so he took it, albeit hesitantly, as an invitation of entrance.

He walked through the door and found himself in a short-distanced corridor lit by only a few small torches on the wall, leaving it only halfway lit. He tiptoed through the hallway and peeked inside the room ahead. The room looked like one that housed a warrior, as the walls were adorned with unusual pieces of armor and sets of weapons accompanied by animal pelts. A statue that looked like very much like a totem stood watch at the wall opposite the door. Finally, most strangely of all…no one was home.

Link's heart sank as he stared deeply and hopelessly at the statue in front of him. A silence had befallen the room, save the periodic crackles of the torches illuminating the entire space and Link's heavy sigh of disappointment. _I can't just wait here…_ he thought while wearily rubbing his temples. _Is there even anything to eat around here? Nothing but rocks, it seems…_

Link turned around and walked out the door to see if there was anything edible (even though he pretty much knew there was nothing of the sort), but he jumped back in shock when he spotted another giant Goron in front of him, only slightly smaller than the one he had encountered previously. This creature had two tan, buff arms that hung to his knees and were dressed in bracelets that looked like small crowns; large, metal spikes on his back that kind of made him look like an overgrown porcupine; sideburns like you wouldn't believe; and burnt gold and bronze battle armor that looked like the colors of the two metals were splotched sloppily together—all of which made the giant Goron look very formidable.

"And just who might you be?" the giant Goron grunted, narrowing his large, black eyes.

Link, being too terrified to talk, was shaking and thoroughly intimidated. He was very tempted to slowly step backwards to distance himself from the Goron, but he feared that any sudden movements would cause him to attack. _Oh, what have I gotten myself into!?_ he thought to himself in panic.

To his surprise, however, the armor-clad Goron smiled, which then erupted into a small fit of laughter. "Dodongo got your tongue? C'mon, don't be so shy! You're actin' like I'm going to hit you so hard that you'll fly right to the moon!"

Link mustered up some hidden confidence to speak. "Y-you sure do l-look like you'd do that…"

"Runs in the family, I guess," the Goron managed to say in-between laughs.

Link started to feel a little better. He had always been told that old Hylian phrase, "You can't judge a book by its cover," but it didn't say anything about Gorons that could rip your head off as easily as breaking a pencil.

"Yes, I'd see why," Link squeaked, hoping to lighten the mood a little more with a small smile of his own.

"Well, since you've obviously come a long way—we don't get Hylian visitors around here very often, let me tell you—I might as well welcome you to Goron City. I am Rothuld, the leader of the Gorons." He offered a large hand, which Link timidly accepted and shook. "Anyway, what are you doing here? I wasn't exactly expecting guests, what with the crisis an' all."

It was just then when Link remembered the red clouds encompassing Death Mountain. "What kind of crisis?" he asked, the nerves gaining access to his throat.

"There's a dragon threatening the entire mountain!"

"A, uh, dragon, sir?"

Rothuld went up to a nearby chair, sat in it, and said, "Why don't you sit down, little guy?"

Link looked for the most comfortable vacant chair in the entire room (the floor) and sat, somewhat unaware of the length of the lecture he was about to receive.

He picked up a nearby chunk of basalt and bit into it, which created a large CRUNCH that caused Link to wince. He chewed and swallowed before beginning: "For the past few days, a lava dragon has been wreaking havoc in the mountain, and we Gorons are afraid that the dragon may bring the havoc here to this city. Because of our diet of rocks, lava dragons consider Gorons a delicacy, especially ones near volcanoes, where soil and rocks are richest in minerals.

"It all started the day after the giant beam of darkness shot out of the ground. I'm sure that you know about that, don't you?"

Link nodded slowly, trying to digest the information.

"Yes, of course. Well, it was a few hours after the beam stopped emanatin', see? Everyone in the city couldn't sleep because of the sudden shockwave of sound, so we pretty much stayed up for the rest of the night.

"Anyway, some of the Gorons that normally sleep outside came rolling to me a few hours later, and said somethin' about some fellow in a black cloak flying into the Death Mountain crater. It's not everyday that you see a person soaring into one of Hyrule's most dangerous places. The information that they gave me sounded very incredible to me, so I did what anyone would do: I didn't really buy it."

Link raised an eyebrow. "A flying man in a black cloak?"

"Aye."

"And you didn't believe the people who told you?"

"It was a terrible mistake, really. Not too long ago, I heard a heart-stopping roar when I was out finding a bite to eat. The roar shook the mountain, and looking up at the crater, I saw the horror that is Volvagia, the once-great ruler of the lava dragons. He was obviously hungry… He spotted everyone outside and attempted to chase us down at high speed. We all saw it and sought shelter; we knew he wouldn't follow us in here, where there's hardly enough room to roam around, but…unfortunately, some of my people weren't so lucky..." A large tear started develop in the corner of his eye, and Link couldn't help but feel pity for him.

Rothuld sniffed, wiped the tear, and continued. "I did my best to hold Volvagia at bay, and I eventually herded him to the Fire Temple, all the while getting burned in the process. I then went on my way back to the city to get some of my weapons, and that's when you showed up.

He crossed his arms and frowned. "And that brings me to my next question: Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Link got up and stretched for a moment. "I'm Link, and I'm looking for someone."

"Well, good luck findin' whoever you're looking for in this place. Not many people of interest live in these parts, and, literally, none would want to; this is an active volcano that could blow at any moment."

"Yes, well, I heard that the person I'm looking for does live up here. Do you know anyone by the name of Mardin?" Link asked in disdained wonder, and started contemplating that his trip was abortive.

Rothuld jumped a little, as if a surge of electricity traveled through his entire body. "You mean Mardin the Great, don't you!?" the Goron cried out. "He's one of the greatest craftsmen in the world, dodongone it! If it weren't for him, the dragon would be on the loose right now!" He reached back for something hanging on his large, leather belt and held up a small cane. It was about a cubit in length; gleamed in gold; and was garnished with tiny rubies that gave it texture.

"This is the Cane of Toque. When used, it fires a beam of tangible energy that can grapple to any surface. This is what I used to herd the dragon back to his keep," Rothuld said as he put the cane back on his belt. Link stared greedily at the glittering cane—it was teasing him to try it out, but after a few seconds of hungering for it, he tried his best to get his mind off of it.

"It was when I was on my way over here that I decided to get rid of the lava dragon for good," Rothuld said, facing the statue. "To do so, however, I need one of Mardin's most powerful crafts, a craft that is said to be able to crush the dragon's skull into a thousand pieces. He left it in the Fire Temple for safekeeping, from what I remember."

Link suddenly smelled a whiff of adventure, a whiff that he longed for for many years. It was tough living a simple life in the bustling streets of Castle Town, where almost _nothing_ happened at all. To be able to actually leave the town walls and to go to dangerous places was a breath of fresh air to him—a _tasty_ breath of fresh air.

"Do you think maybe that I could help you?" Link spoke up, excited about action that may be involved with the raid.

"Excuse me?" Rothuld said with a chuckle.

"You heard what I said. Please let me help you!"

"This is a very dangerous job," Rothuld said gravely. "Do you have a death wish or something? What would your parents say?"

Questions with this subject never failed to land a blow in Link's stomach. After a few seconds of silence, which, to him, was both discomfited and painful, he glared down at his feet and softly said, "My parents aren't alive." He was always trying to run away from the pain of his orphan status, and not talking about it at all was one of the ways to keep his mind off the idea.

"Hmm… I'm sorry to hear that," Rothuld frowned. "Well, what could you do? Let's just say that when you're fighting a dragon, he's not very friendly, and I don't want to be held responsible for a fatality that I could've avoided."

"You might need some help. What if worst comes to worst and you can't kill him, and you're forced to retreat? Having a little extra manpower could be the difference between winning and losing. After all, it's better to bring help along than to retreat and leave the dragon loose, isn't it?"

The silence between the two acquaintances was long. Link had the large urge to cough to break it off, but the situation was way too awkward. He averted eye gaze to maintain whatever comfort he had left, and it would be a wise wager to assume that Rothuld did the same. After a minute or so of gauche quietness, the Goron sighed in defeat. "Well, you can't be going into a volcano with that equipment."

Link looked down at himself and agreed that he was, indeed, poorly armed; he had only a sword for protection, and he never had suitable armor on him.

Rothuld ambled on over to a wardrobe by a corner in the room and pulled out a small, dented shield and a tatty, red tunic. "Take this shield with you and put the tunic on. Since we're goin' into an active volcano, you're goin' to need heat-resistant clothing."

Link put on the tunic and found that was a bit large on him…but he didn't complain, thinking that doing so could've tainted his chances of fighting a real-life dragon, which, in his mind, could've only been done in fairy tales told to him when he was a wee infant. Still, the tunic did completely cover his knees and kind of looked like a robe. All he could do was shrug and never give the concept a second thought.

After carefully adjusting his new clothing, Link declared himself ready. Nodding in acknowledgement, Rothuld turned around and pulled statue away from the wall, revealing a doorway. Link felt his face heat up as a hot draft began filling the room. Drops of sweat were beginning to coat his face in water—though from either the hot air or the nerves, he couldn't tell. Gulping, he followed the large Goron through the entryway and found himself in a vast ocean of heat.

Link looked around in awe. In front of him stood a giant, smoking tower of stone, as well as a lake of lava below them. Looking off into the distance was like looking at shells in shallow water. Within the immense heat, the shapes of the rock ahead were refracted and bent, lightly waving as the heated air distorted the light.

At first, he expected that the heat would be way too much for him, but as he stepped into the volcano, there was no anticipated rise in temperature. It felt as if it were just a typical hot day out in the field—no wind and no humidity was present. He smiled to himself, now deeply admiring the heat-resistant clothing.

With a grunt, Rothuld jogged over to a wooden bridge to the left of the doorway, and Link followed, still a bit nervous. He reached his hand to a post, which looked weak at a first glance, and leaned precariously over the floorboards. He eyed down and saw red and orange light shining from between the cracks. "Uh, R-Rothuld?" Link stammered. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"_You_ were the one who wanted to come along. Don't get cold feet now," Rothuld tittered. He then took a giant step on one of the floor boards, and surprisingly, it supported his weight perfectly. It didn't even shake horizontally and try to buck him off. Before long, he reached the other side and tried to wave Link along. "C'mon! It's easy!"

The Hylian child sighed to himself in dread. _Well, I suppose that if he can do it, I can do it._ Gulping to himself, he began his daring jog over to the other side of the bridge. His heart was beating so quickly that it soon felt like a steady vibration in his chest, and he held his breath in anticipation. _Please, please,_ please_ don't give way…_ he prayed with his eyes closed.

To his greatest relief, he soon felt solid ground slap at the bottom of his feet. His breathing then came so fast that he felt dizzy and ended up falling down face-forward. Rothuld laughed heartily. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" He reached for a hand, which Link accepted graciously, and ripped the boy off the ground. He thought for a second that he was going to fly out of the volcano, but he felt better when Rothuld gently put him back down.

He continued to follow Rothuld ahead through a doorway that lead to a small room with a square hole in the floor. The hole went down a good fifty to seventy-five feet, and falling down and landing on your feet certainly didn't look like it would be pleasant. There was a skinny, black ladder that went down and hugged one of the walls. Rothuld didn't bother using this: he curled up into a ball and rolled down the hole, landing with a thud. Thankfully, he ended up unharmed.

"Link, come down!" he called, his voice echoing through the caves.

Link looked at the ladder with unease. He grasped its bars and tried shaking it, but it didn't budge at all. _Seems sturdy…_ After only another minute, his feet touched the bottom of hole painlessly and continued trailing Rothuld into the volcanic wonder that was the Fire Temple.

The room ahead looked like it was painted red, what with all of the fire lighting up the room. In front of them was a small stone stairway that led to a floor that led to two doors on opposite sides. Large, segmented statues stood on either side of the stairway. At the top of it were three strange sculptures that held fire in their mouths to help paint the room an even darker red. As for the temple as a whole, it was singing to them a chorus with the crackles of fire, the boiling of magma, and the rumbles of small earthquakes.

Rothuld climbed the stairs without difficulty, and Link did the same. Around the room, bats that looked like to have been lit on fire, known to the world as Fire Keese, soared like small vultures, their wings beating lightly. The two tried to avoid them as much as possible and did a good job at doing so.

Rothuld turned right and opened the door, revealing a very large room full of lava pits, rocket propulsion platforms, Fire Keese, and a bridge made of wood held up by very hot chains. Link, as he, too, walked through the door, was absolutely baffled at how a bridge made of wood could have survived for perhaps hundreds of years without burning up or weakening.

There wasn't any time for questions, however, so the duo crossed the bridge to the other side and came across yet another door. Rothuld opened it without hesitation, his strength nearly yanking it off its hinges. He let Link go in before he did and slammed the door behind him. The room that they ended up in was a smaller one than the previous, although most of the accessible space was enclosed in a cage. The only way leading down was just a board (another baffling wonder) hitched on a small slot in the ground.  
Again, Link's nerves gripped at his stomach as he looked over the board and down at the magma. The board was rather thin, and even moving a few inches left or right would cause one to tumble down into the liquid rock.

They slid down the board and looked around. In front of them was an archway that no doubt must've been destroyed by the periodic blast of fire that erupted from the hole of lava in front of them quite some time ago.

The hole exploded, hot gases and fire bursting from it like a punctured balloon, up to the ceiling, which had a hole burned into it from the sprays of fire. What's more, off to the side, there lied a large block, almost pathetic compared to the large pillars beside them.

A light bulb suddenly lit brightly in Link's head. "Hey, Rothuld, I need to show you something." He pointed to the hole in the ceiling and the block a few feet away. It did not take long for the Goron to connect the dots.

"Yes, of course! It looks like that we could push the block onto the hole in the ground, and when there's an eruption, the block will be lifted to the hole in the top of the ceiling, allowing us to get to the second floor. Excellent job, Link!" He looked over the procedure again, and after only a few seconds, a frown formed on his face. "However," Rothuld started with a disappointed tone in his voice, "I don't think the block's going to be able to support my weight. You're the one who must go on."

"But what if one of us needs help?" Link asked nervously. After all, the temple was like a foreign land to him. Everything was so strange to him, and save for the occasional fights in Castle Town, he hardly had any experience in fights. With all the hostile creatures running rampant, it wouldn't have been a long shot to assume that one would not only be possible, but would be imminent.

"Here," Rothuld grunted, pulling the Cane of Toque off his belt and handing it to him. He suddenly felt a strange strength surge through his arms; torso; and, ultimately, his entire body. It was like a strange warmth that filled him as if he were an empty cup. It was invigorating! And yet…it felt tender—like it needed to be guided forward. He had never felt this kind of strength before, and to put it simply, he enjoyed the sensation. "It will help you in times of need, so don't neglect it, got it?"

Link looked at the golden cane clutched in his fists and nodded, feeling more determined from the newfound strength.

"A warning, though: don't use the cane for too long. Using the cane requires magical energy, and the only way for the can to get it is by sapping its wielder's strength. If you use it for too long, the energy released from the cane will break, leaving you without the aid of this craft, and you'll be left in a rather…drained state, to boot. If you're done using the cane's power, just touch the beam to break it."

"Okay," Link acknowledged.

Rothuld turned toward the door they entered through, but stopped himself as if he nearly forgot to mention information: "When you find the mystic hammer, the craft that lies in this temple, return to the entrance and take the left door. Then go across that room and open the door at the other side to meet me in the room where I sealed Volvagia. Hurry, though; I will try to keep the seal up for as long as I can, but even my strength has its limits."

"All right. I'll see you there." He watched as his friend rolled up the wooden board and walked through the door, never to return. It was a strange feeling, not having someone fill up the void by your side as you ventured off into an alien world. The silence that resulted was ironically deafening, despite the sound of the gargling magma and the flapping of Fire Keese. It was official: he was alone.

_Well, I guess I better get moving,_ he thought to himself bluntly, despite Rothuld's unnerving absence. He walked over to the large block beside him and analyzed it. It was made from the exact same rock that the pillars of the broken archway were made of. The stone was rough to the touch and rather uncomfortable to place a hand on for support, actually. He pushed on it toward the magma hole as hard as he could, and to his surprise, after a few seconds of pushing, it budged a couple inches, about two more than he expected. Unfortunately, all of his might contributed to moving it, and the hole was a few feet away. _This is going to be a tiring day, I see…_

Had the block been a bit smoother, it probably would have slid across the rough ground a bit easier, saving him at least five minutes of exerting all of his energy in one go. Or had the block had been a bit _closer_ to the hole to begin with, he wouldn't have had to do as much pushing, saving maybe ten minutes…but sometimes, life just isn't fair, is it?

After about twelve minutes, Link felt a small rumble on the block, and he jumped in surprise when the block soared into the air like a rocket. The block fit snuggly into the hole in the ceiling for the one second where gravity didn't have control over its movements, after which it darted back toward the ground. In shock, he quickly lurched backward as the block crashed into the ground. His senses quickly returned to him, though, and he climbed on the block before it shot up into the air again. He stepped off hastily when he reached the top, knowing that there was a short time to depart before it fell again. Looking ahead, he found another door, grasped the knob, and opened it with a nervous feeling in his stomach.

* * *

There's no telling how many doors, rooms, and corridors that Link traveled through alone; but all that followed the magma geyser had the impression that they wanted to send him to the grave. Fire traps, fake doors that tried to flatten him when he attempted to open them, skirmishes with blazing slugs—he encountered them all and more. Surprisingly, he managed to survive most of those trials without getting singed, and during the times he did get burned, he shook it off rather quickly and trudged on.

Revealed behind one of the impostor doors, however, was a corridor that lead up to a real door. Link, thoroughly unnerved from a _door_ wiggling out of its hinges and trying to crush him, tapped it timidly with his sword, which gave off a few sparks as it struck the metal. To his relief, the door didn't respond, so he could then open it up and enter the next room without much qualm.

Inside was a lone, rectangular plateau, complete with a small stoop. The room itself matched the shape of the platform, but it had about eight times the area. At a first glance, the room looked like it held nothing special—and the second and third glimpses agreed with the first. There was only that one platform and nothing else.

Snorting with disinterest, Link turned around to exit and try another room, but he suddenly heard a burst of flames shoot up somewhere behind him. The room's orange walls reflected the flickering, green light that emanated from the fire that exploded. He turned his head very slowly, a frozen look of fear on his face. His gaze once again met toward the platform, but directly ahead of him was what looked like a stick figure with a round torso. Its appendages were burning with the same color of fire that spun around the plateau like a fence, but there was nothing at all that kept the fire going—it was burning in midair.

The anomaly attacked with a flurry of green flames, all like large cannonballs shot from hidden artillery in the walls. The flurries flew around the room at such quick velocities that it was nearly impossible to evade them. With dodging being an unwise alternative, he held his shield up, feeling individual, but quick, blasts of heat radiating from the flaming projectiles. One of the flames hit his shield without any harm to him, while the rest hit either the walls or the floor and stuck to them like glue.

One thing, however, caught Link's eye: the torso. It was the only body part that wasn't burning up entirely, and with the charred black color, it stuck out like a sore thumb. A battle tactic striking him, he got out the Cane of Toque and swung the cane toward the strange torso. A golden beam of magic sparks shot out in a chain of light, illuminating the room a brighter tint of yellow and overshadowing the green firelight slightly. The large orb of light at the end of the chain hooked itself to its target successfully—it was now his cue to tug at it with all his might. The torso, as predicted, flew out of the dangerous attire and plopped onto the ground almost comically.

A guttural yelp was the monster's first reaction after getting up, and with a burst of cowardice, it started running away around the ring of fire. The cane had served its purpose well. Wishing to save energy, he touched the beam, drew his sword, and dashed like a madman toward the runaway enemy. For a small bugger with stubby legs, it could run annoyingly fast, and it was a nuisance to try to catch up. He eventually managed to get within sword's length of the monster, however, and he slashed and sliced it a fair few number of times before it suddenly leaped back into the ring of fire.

A maniacal laugh echoed off the walls of the room as it regenerated its garb and appendages; however, the garb changed from a greenish hue to a rather stunning bright blue. Raising its arms, it fired another barrage of fiery projectiles toward him. However, the worthy combatant was already in the process of casting another beam of magic; again, he tugged robustly, and slashed it some more without difficulty at all. A deep cry of pain exploded from the beast, and strangely it started enlarging like a bubble. He was, for a second, intrigued by the monster's strange behavior, but personal experience dictated that nothing good for him was going to come out of that. Yelping, he dashed away from the anomaly at top speed until he hit the wall, nearly falling over from the force. Sure enough, the strange being not only died where it stood, but as a last ditch effort, it exploded with the force of a small bomb, a shroud of smoke and fire bursting from the ball.

Link took a minute to regain his breath and brushed himself off as a reward for winning the battle. With the monster defeated, the ring of fire lived no longer. A click sounded from where the platform stood; it was like the click of a lock. "Hmm, what was that?" he said to himself as he climbed up the stoop to check it out. A small rumble stiffened his body, and suddenly, it started floating upward, defying any gravity that had ruled the room.

The elevator flew up into the ceiling, much like in the room with the large block. He dared not touch the elevator's shaft, with the fear of injuring his hands as the patterns of blocks held together with ancient mortar rushed below him like a waterfall. A few seconds passed, and the downward force began to ease on his feet. For a split second, he felt lighter—he was tempted to jump, but again, he really didn't want to risk injuring himself. The elevator stopped, and he then found himself in a room with a circular staircase leading to a completely unprotected treasure chest. His thirst for quenching his curiosity energizing his feet, he dashed up the stairs to the chest, avoiding and destroying any Keese that got in his way with a single swift swing of an arm.

The chest's location was emphasized with four pillars, and the center of the room was a large hole that led to a temple floor far below. He whistled as he craned his head over the edge, an echo bouncing back to his ears after one-second intervals. He inched away from the edge, shrugging to himself, and turned around to the large wooden chest. His fingers examined its nooks and crannies, animatedly feeling the hinges, the lock, and the door crack. Excited about what would lie inside, and his stomach nearly bursting from anticipation, he opened the chest with shaking hands and butterflies.

The door creaked open, and the contents nearly shined out of the box. What was inside was a large hammer with a head made of heavy steel and with a sleek handle, allowing the greatest grip in the hands. He picked it up with some difficulty; it was so heavy that he had to use two hands to hold it steadily. Had he been older and stronger, he'd probably have more strength to not be handicapped into using both hands, but the discovery itself more than made up for it. Wanting to see what it could do, he swung it with all his might at the nearest wall. He looked at the damage with wide eyes, as the strike left a crater so large that he could nearly fit his entire hand in it.

Link put the treasure away, beaming, but quickly frowned when he realized that he had obtained that which he was sent to get. Sighing with dread, he turned around again and unenthusiastically ambled back to where he came, preparing himself to reface all the trials he had encountered thus far.

* * *

It took an hour or so, but he eventually found himself back at the temple's entrance. After weakly shutting the door shut, his body seduced him into taking a seat to the side and taking a rest.

_Come on, Link… I'm tired!_ it groaned. _Go ahead and let me take a load off. Rothuld can wait._

"I can't…" he mumbled to the hot air in front of his face, his footwear clapping against the stone floor as he walked toward the left door, just as Rothuld instructed earlier. "He already has been waiting. He can't hold it off by himself forever."

_Oh, please… He's the leader of the Gorons! He can handle himself. Remember, before you came along, he was going to enter the temple all by his lonesome. He obviously thought he could handle everything himself, without anyone else's help._

"That was then, and this is now. He probably changed his plan of action when he accepted my offer."

_Ugh…_ As he placed his hand on the door's knob, his body begged him no longer. He was welcomed by a room with a giant lava pit that covered much area of the room, as many of the rooms did. There were platforms he could jump across to get to the colossal door on the other side, so the pit's plan to stop him was foiled in only a few seconds. After two easy springs of his legs, despite his weariness, he reached the other end of the room. He grunted to himself in satisfaction, but he also, however, faced the giant door with great uncertainty.

What if the dragon succeeds with his own bidding? What if we lose? Link contemplated in corrupt thought. What will happen to Hyrule then?

He couldn't just stand there, though; to him, hesitating was the same thing as ignoring the solution, and he always slammed himself from the inside whenever he did so. After all, in this dire moment, the seal was only temporary. The door slid up into the wall with a large clang, and he looked at the room that loomed on the other side.

The revealed room featured the familiar lava pit, but also showed a lone, circular platform rising up out of the magma. The platform seemed to be dotted with holes of magma hotspots—the liquid rock was just oozing from the ground and simmering, waiting futilely to cool off.

Rothuld was standing on the pimpled plateau when the boom of the large door slamming behind Link startled them both. He grinned when he spotted the Hylian rushing toward him. "Link! I started to worry about you," Rothuld said with a relieved sigh. "Do you have the hammer?"

"Yes, I have it!" With a little effort, he pulled out the large hammer and handed it to the Goron, who stared into its shiny head with glimmering eyes. "What have you been doing?"

"I've been waitin' for you. You came at a pretty good time."

"What's the plan, then?" Link asked.

"Okay, not long from now, the seal will break, and Volvagia will be flying out of the magma and flying amok. I'll need you to hold him down with the Cane of Toque, and I'll hit him with the hammer. The hammer will stun him, so then I'll need you to use your sword to attack the vulnerable head. You got that?"

Link opened his mouth to respond, but before any understandable sound came out, there was a giant rumble in the earth that shook the ground violently. The only way out sank into the oceanic magma, and the horror called Volvagia flew out of one of the fire holes in the platform. There was absolutely no escape now.

The dragon was sleek, with flesh of molten rock and fire; his eyes were round, radiant, and creepy; and his neck wore a mane made of soft-looking, but intense, fire. The dragon, eying its prey hungrily, roared and released a massive breath of fire that narrowly missed the two heroes.

"OKAY, LINK, NOW!" yelled Rothuld, rolling out of the way of the dragon's deadly breath. Link whipped out the Cane of Toque and fired a beam of grappling magic at the dragon's stomach. It clung on as well as a grappling hook, and the dragon could fly no higher. Link pulled and pulled the dragon, trying to get it to touch the ground. The dragon was strong, but the cane's magic was even stronger; little by little, the monster's altitude was decreasing. After a few seconds, the dragon was within range, cuing Rothuld to swing the hammer with all of his might, roaring like a lion.

Volvagia howled in pain as it hit the ground with great force, and the rock beneath them cracked as the large creature struggled to shake off the pain with no avail. Link took this opportunity to touch the magical beam, get out his sword, and slice and dice at the dragon's creepy head. Like a flash, Volvagia quickly recoiled and tried using his skinny arms to shield its injured face from the elements. It then flew into one of the holes, now out of reach of the cane.

After a few seconds, the dragon flew out of one of the other holes and flew toward the ceiling, which was hard to see from the heat and smoke in the room. Link attempted to launch a few beams of magic to get a strong grip on Volvagia, but each missed its mark, allowed the dragon to release a torrential rain of rocks and boulders. Link held up his shield and tried his best to evade the rocks, while Rothuld curled up into a ball and used his back for a shield, a common defense among Gorons, particularly of his status.

After the torrential rain of falling debris had ceased, Volvagia was in reach once again. Link fired a string of energy at the dragon, which met the dragon's bony horn, and pulled with all his might to anchor it. All of the pulling, not to mention all that running in the temple prior to meeting the temple's master, was starting to drain his energy to dangerous levels, and a considerable amount of doubt gave way in his mind; neverthless, the beam was as strong as ever and showed no signs of weakening.

After Link did his best to lower Volvagia's altitude again, the dragon was within range, and Rothuld swung the mighty hammer toward the dragon's head for a second time. As one could well imagine, the monster squealed in pain and lie on the ground, stunned from the agony, his appendages twitching. Link touched the beam somewhat wearily and swung his blade at the lizard's head.

Link ran toward the middle of the platform as the dragon screamed and sank back into one of the holes. They then waited intently, looking for any spray of fire from the small pits of magma that their enemy was hiding in. The smaller of the two warriors stumbled a bit as the fatigue was catching even closer to him, his vision beginning to cloud up. The dragon soon emerged, and spitting fire all over the place—much of which was giving Link burns. He cried aloud and closed his eyes, hoping to dumb down the pain a bit…but with limited success. Volvagia still seemed very vigorous and also much angrier than when they began, this time breathing more fire at Rothuld. He easily got out of the way, but he looked to the side and saw his partner stumbling around, his clothes singed from the previous attack. "C'MON, LINK! HANG IN THERE!" he cried, hoping to bring the boy's spirits up one last time.

It worked; the Hylian blinked the tears away and mustered up the strength to swing the cane at Volvagia once more. The familiar beam of magic stuck to the dragon like a flea to a dog and began pulling down on the large, snake-like creature.

The beam was doing well at pulling the dragon down closer to the ground, but Link was seriously weak now, and he knew that the beam wouldn't hold out much longer. After about a half-minute, the enemy was at the lowest possible level on the platform, and Rothuld rushed toward the dragon's head to strike the blow to end it once and for all.

However, Link couldn't hold out any longer; the string of magic snapped right in front of his eyes, and he fell forward, collapsing from weakness. Volvagia was free yet again, and he took the opportunity to take off again and attack. That was when the tears of pain started coming; from Link's point of view, the dragon looked just like a blurry, wavy photo that was poorly developed. Streams of red, orange, and yellow colors soaked his eyes, and his mind was clouded with so much exhaustion that he was beginning to have trouble telling them apart.

He was awake enough, however, to be surprised when the dragon screeched louder than ever, and all of the dragon's attacks ceased. Link used the last of his strength to look up and see that the dragon was squealing in pain as the final blow of the hammer was struck. A sound of rumbling and bubbling filled the room as the dragon started to disintegrate, and every part that once was the dragon was spluttering all over the room. Link noticed the room's volume beginning to turn down, only to be plunged into darkness afterward. The last thing that he could hear was the voice of Rothuld, but trying to make it out was a futile attempt. The very darkness around him grew darker and darker, binding his body, his mind, his very heart, until all he could think about was for death to end the pain.

* * *

**I tried to be faithful to the architecture of _Ocarina of Time_'s Fire Temple, so I'm sorry if there are some inaccuracies.**

**As for the late update...well, let's just say that fixing up this chapter proved to be very time consuming. It's like a perfect storm of forces, if you will: firstly, this is one of the longest chapters in the story, and it took me quite awhile to do Chapter 1, let alone Chapter 4; secondly, school started up recently, so more time has been cut from my schedule. Them's the ropes, I guess... I apologize again for the late update, but I should probably warn you that since school's started and since the chapters are expected to be longer in length than the first three, you should expect the updates to occur quite late.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, however! Again, please review!**


	5. The Great Artisan

**Whew... This one took me at least seven hours to do, as amazing as it sounds. I can hardly belive it, either!**

**Hmm, I guess it could've ended up a bit better, but then again, that's probably the self-criticism talking. The thing needs to settle down, I say! Eh, before I babble your ears--er, eyes--off, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Chapter 5: The Great Artisan**_

_It was as if time had sped itself up since the last time Link found himself awake. But at the same time, he felt like it was dragging along like a snail in the wintertime. The only thing around him to keep him company was…nothing. In this state, he attempted to grasp his bearings—of what was up and what was down—but the only knowledge he could receive was that he was drifting off, his feet not even touching solid ground. Looking down (or, as far as he knew, up), he could see why: he was completely invisible; perfectly camouflaged. He waved his hands in the space where his chest would've been, but he felt nothing tangible, not even air._

His body was gone, it seemed. All existence was lost, and the strange vacuum around him was suffocating…but at the same time, it was benign. His strength was slowly returning to him in the dragging hours of being cataleptic, and nothing that dwelled in the shadows of his mind was striving to rip it from him for their own.

"Hello?" he mouthed out to the void, and to his surprise, sound actually came out. The note of his voice echoed back to him about five seconds later, as if he were in a very deep, vast cavern. "HEEEEEY!_" he screamed and twisted around, his impatience rising and his "eyes" seeing only the same tone of blackness that had enshrouded him. Then the boom of his voice came rushing back to him and ramming into his senses like a train—it was startling to the point where had he actually had a physical form to react with, he'd have toppled over like a wobbling domino, clacking his head against whatever textured surface he was potentially floating over._

His voice wasn't the only one to come his way, however… There was another. Actually, it sounded to be two. In the dark space that garbled any trifle whisper, they came to him as mere grunts—deep and hoarse they were, as if at least one of them had been coughing up smoke. After about ten seconds or so of silence, they sounded up again and more frequently, reminiscent of an ethnic mantra. It was poetic, almost like a haiku meshed with a musical elegy. The lines came to him from the spherical event horizon from the giant abyss around him. They came from the front. The back. The side. Over there. Behind him again. Off in the distance. Up to his face. In his ear…

As the voices kept coming, they grew louder in a small, yet noticeable, crescendo. They grew louder and louder…and then their meaning became gradually less obscure. After a while, he began to recognize individual words; after a couple minutes, individual sentences.

"How long has he been out? Days?"_ one of the voices said, one from whom Link could not recognize._

"About a week, yes,"_ said the other. It was Rothuld's voice—he knew it. Gruff and tough, yet inspiring… It was his, all right._

As if he had said a password, the dark fog began to thin, and off in the distance, he could make out some faint colors of red and orange dyeing it away from nothing. Like a sunrise, red and orange soon became the dominant color around him. He could not yet see his body, but he figured that what he had been seeing was his consciousness coming back to him—and that what he was looking at was the mere insides of his eyelids.

Slowly, he opened his heavy, blurry eyes. As of now, he couldn't make out where he was, and he couldn't yet move his arms. They were there, but his muscles did not respond to any command he gave them. Fortunately, though, his feeling was beginning to return to him—and when it did, he ached all over. It was the feeling you get when you lie in one position for hours and hours on end without moving. He wanted so much to massage his back, but still, his arms would not move.

His breathing came easily to him, however, and he let the thick, bitter air fill his nostrils. It had the strange mix of smoke and iron, and its temperature was sweat-dropping. Had he not known any better, he would've thought he was still in the Fire Temple, lying from where he once stood with the Cane of Toque firmly in his fingers' grip.

What he didn't know was that he was actually higher up in the mountain, lying in one's quarters carved into the volcanic cone. The ground was smoothly etched to form a level floor, and the windows were merely holes cut cleanly from the dark-colored walls, which were ornamented with large iron tools, cabinets, and some kitchenware. He was lying on an incredibly stiff mattress—which, in reality, was made out of the same rock that the abode was constructed from—and the center of the room boasted a shoddily constructed table with the legs still rooted to the floor.

The dragging time of what felt like a half-hour imbued him with the desire to get up and move around, albeit with still-blurry vision. His arms responding this time, he struggled to lift himself up. His arms were shaky, but they supported his limp figure just fine; however, his weakness started to make him feel sick, so he cut off all force to his arms, causing his head to land on the pillow afresh...or lack of a pillow, rather.

"Ow…" he groaned, tenderly rubbing the back of his head and gritting his teeth in irritation.

Rothuld heard Link's disgruntled moan from the other room and, within a couple seconds, stomped in to check on him. "Oh, he's coming around," Rothuld called, turning his head to the room he came from.

"It's about time," came a small, masculine mumble, followed by a steady rhythm of a hammer beating on steel.

Rothuld turned back to the young boy sprawled on the stone bed at the edge of the room. "How're you feelin', Link?" he asked emotively but kindly.

"I…can't get up," Link said with a whimper. As the pain began to dull, he opened his eyes, his vision still rather cloudy. However, he could still see a frown of sympathy forming on Rothuld's large face.

"Hang in there, buddy," the Goron replied. With a couple loud thumps on the rock, he turned around and faced the adjacent room, walking back inside to continue his business and not bother the Hylian while he recovered.

With a few blinks, his eyes began to override the blurriness of sleep, and the objects around him grew sharper and no longer appeared as duplicate images. He rubbed his eyes wearily to get rid of any of the fog left behind that obscured his vision—and that was when he could finally, truly see.

Lifting his head up, he found that he was back into his green tunic, fully washed and sewn, devoid of any damage from traveling. Any injury that he obtained in the battle prior was properly treated and dressed, and his mental willpower seemed to have improved since then, too.

Just then, more clanking noises from the other room captured his attention. One after another, all from a ghostly glockenspiel, bounced off the walls and to his ears and upped his annoyance bit by bit. He would've tried standing up to see what was going on, but a steady head had not yet returned to him—he did not want to risk collapsing on the ground and going out cold again. Realizing that his favorite mode of investigation was terminated, he asked weakly to the mystery man in the adjoining room, "Who's making all of that noise?"

"Someone who's trying to do you a favor!" the same mystery voice called back as annoyed as the boy was, if not more so. The clanking noises ceased immediately as an iron hammer was tossed to the ground, bouncing off the floor and singing a metallic tone as it settled down to a stop against the wall right by the doorway. A dull series of clacks from a footfall then began in a cadenced pattern as someone whom Link had never seen before strode into the room.

He was a medium-sized, elderly-looking man wearing brown robes blackened by coal, his silvery-white hair and short beard all shaggy (_Doesn't he ever use a comb!?_ thought Link incredulously, trying to stifle a laugh from sounding from his gut). His brown gloves were made of what looked like a very tough hide, and his very dirty boots left clumps of dark dust behind wherever he walked.

"I swear, there's absolutely no gratitude in kids these days…" the man spat in mild anger, averting the boy's confused gaze and adjusting the fit of his leathery gloves with quick jerks of his hands.

Link ignored the man, seeing that arguing with him would get himself nowhere. "Who are you?" he inquired.

"Well, I'm who you're looking for, aren't I? You were looking for Mardin, so…here I am," the elder replied, turning to his left and toward a large pot simmering over a fire that was reduced to smoldering embers. Grabbing a scratched wooden bowl and a spoon, he scooped up some of the contents and splashed them into the container, creating a small splatter of mess on the floor beside him. He took no heed of it and just continued to fill the bowl.

After a few seconds, he turned around and approached Link's unmoving body, grabbing a stool and sitting by the bedside. He scooped the spoon into the bowl and shipped it over to the boy's mouth, and some of the thin broth dripped to the floor with a pitter-patter. Having not eaten anything for days, Link graciously accepted the meal, and his eyes grew wide in surprise as the food slid down his throat and into his stomach.

The thin broth easily went down, both quenching thirst and delivering a kick of salty flavor, his absolute favorite. His back and arms then acted on their own accord. He couldn't stop them as his back stiffened upright and his arms snatched the bowl of soup from the man and lifted it up as if he were drinking from a cup. The soup's broth was a dark yellow; and within it floated an assortment of herbs, vegetables, and tough meat—all of which went down like it were just an easy-to-swallow drink.

After each second, his mouth filled, trying to consume as much as it possibly could. Needless to say, Link was _starving_. The last thing he ate was the two biscuits at Learto's house, and from what he remembered hearing, that was about a week ago. After seven days of having an empty stomach, he had deeply missed the taste of salty soup. As he swallowed more and more of it, he felt his strength begin to come back to him in a large wave.

Everyone who knew him knew that that was all that he ever wanted to eat. If he wanted, he could've taken a saltshaker, twist off the cap, and empty it, chugging the cubic grains as if they were sugar. Of course, he thought better of doing it when he had the chance; it wasn't so much because that he was afraid of getting sick from it, but it was more because he knew that people who owned the salt would chase him down and beat him to a pulp if they knew that their beloved seasoning was snatched.

After he completely sucked the bowl dry, he took a few-second breather and lied back down on the hard bed. "Thanks…" he graciously said, however winded. "M-may I have some more…?"

"Of course," Mardin retorted, amused from the Hylian's strange eating habits. He stood up again, grabbed the bowl and spoon, and walked back over to the pot. "You know, you're lucky; if it weren't for Rothuld, all of that traveling you did previously would've been for naught," he said as the familiar sound of soup pouring into the container snuck into both of their ears, leaving Link's mouth to water some more.

He, however, couldn't help but agree. He didn't want to admit it, but had there been no one there, he most certainly would've burnt up in that hell-like place for the rest of time.

After the bowl had been refilled, he walked back over to the stool and handed it back to Link, who again began chugging its contents. "What I still don't get is why you'd go out of your way to help slay a _dragon_. You were even warned of the dangers beforehand, if I'm not deeply mistaken," he said quietly. "Why did you do it? You could've been killed, and you almost _were_."

He stopped drinking the soup, slowly lowered the bowl, and swallowed. "I dunno," Link shrugged, gazing at the rough-looking wall and avoiding Mardin's eyes. "I didn't want to feel that I was powerless to do anything, I guess."

The old man laughed, earning himself a quick glare from Link's end. " 'Powerless'? Kid, it seemed you were rushing in without anything left to live for!"

Link's face flared red in embarrassment, and he continued to avert the man's eyes. "W-what are you talking about?"

Mardin closed his eyes and sighed, shaking his head. "Link, it's rather obvious. You have a home, don't you? A safe place to live, right? Family? Why give all that up for a foolish stunt like that?"

The familiar punch in the stomach reared back and rammed into Link at full force again and caused him to grit his teeth. "Rothuld didn't tell you, did he? I don't have a family! They're dead! Gone! Nonexistent! Kaput!" Tears began welling up in his eyes, blurring his sight yet again. He wiped them away with a sniff and tried to bite the bullet, berating himself for the sudden outburst, to which Mardin was left speechless for about a half-minute.

Just then, Rothuld came rushing into the room. "What's going on?" he queried with a worried look on his face.

It felt like an eternity before Mardin replied with a quiet, "It's nothing, Rothuld. Please leave us alone for a while."

The large Goron grunted to himself and agreed to honor the wishes of the craftsman. He turned around and walked back into the room—what he was doing was a mystery to them, but they continued their talk regardless.

"No, he did not tell me. I'm sorry for troubling you with that. I was out of my place, and I apologize," Mardin said solemnly.

"It's fine… Don't worry about it," Link replied gently, raising the bowl back up to his mouth and carrying on eating.

"I thank you, son," the man rejoined with a smile. "Anyway, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here…"

"A little bit, I guess."

"Well, Rothuld informed me of the situation, and he told me that you were asking for my assistance. Care to explain?"

Link finished his soup and was now completely full. Moving the bowl and spoon to the side, he began his explanation: "Okay, you're aware of the large beam of light shooting up toward the sky a few days ago, right?"

Mardin nodded. "I sure did. It startled me so bad that I hit my hand while ironworking." He then took off his glove and showed to Link a large black bruise that formed on his fingers and rubbed them gingerly.

Link swallowed, sickened from the sight, before continuing. "It was chaotic. Everyone in town was up and about and panicking, screaming, and shoving. The knights were alarmed, too, and they charged out of the town toward the desert. I followed them for a few hours, but when I reached the desert, one of the knights was crawling away, seriously wounded. With his last words, he told me that he knew you and asked me to find you."

"Takk… My dear friend…" Mardin whispered, wiping away a couple tears of his own.

"His armor was charred purple… He was badly burned, sir. He said he didn't know what attacked his battalion, but he was the only one who got out of there alive."

"Yes…" the man said in an undertone, scratching his beard as he connected the dots. "It's all making sense…"

Link furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"Young man, have you ever heard of the Door of the Moon?"

Puzzled, Link turned his focus to side, his mouth slightly ajar from confusion. "Uh…the what?"

Mardin scowled. "I'll take that as a no. Now, where to begin…? Ah, yes! You are familiar with the creation of the Triforce, are you not?"

This time, Link nodded.

"It is said that after the three goddesses created the world, the Triforce was placed in the Sacred Realm that is connected to this world. Today, it is safeguarded in a fortress in the Sacred Realm known as the Temple of Light, a place completely clean of evil.

"The direct opposite of the Sacred Realm, however, is the Realm of the Moon, a place that is swarming of evil down to the last molecule of poison in its atmosphere. It is said that anyone who ventures into the Realm of the Moon will perish the second he or she suffers direct contact with the evil aura there. It's an _eeeeevil_ place…evil and extremely powerful. Evil itself is strong, and in the hands of a mortal, it can give him strength…but after a while, it will corrupt and consume him from the inside out.

"The sages who constructed the Temple of Time knew that the knowledge of the Realm of the Moon was too dangerous to be kept alive socially, so the Spirit Temple was built to seal it off and hide it from curious eyes seeking its secrets.

"Okay, I'm sure that you also know about the Sheikah, right?"

"I've heard of them, but I don't know too much about them," Link replied with a small cough.

"Right. That's because they fell into seclusion and secrecy for years. Granted, given their nature, they were always like that, but now it appears as though they are extinct—completely fallen off the face of the earth, I say. This includes any information about them, too; any cultural thing, any historical event, you name it. All have been weathered down and eroded by the winds of time. Even the erosion itself has been weathered and eroded multiple times, and now it is nothing but a fine, invisible powder that cannot be caught in the breeze.

"Not much may be known about them, but what _is_ known is that they were especially proficient in magic—shadow magic, to be more precise. Any injury you saw on my friend, any at all, it reeks of the purple fire that they've been so well known to create."

Link raised an eyebrow, vaguely remembering what the soldier Takk had said about "strange fire." "Purple fire?"

"Aye. Hotter, more powerful, and deadlier than any fire magic that we Hylians can conjure at will. You see, it's exceptionally difficult—nay, practically impossible—for one to summon fire of a different color. It's not easy to create something that was never intended to be created. We can try, but do you ever see purple fire lighting the streets of Hyrule Town at night or burning in one's fireplace?"

Link remained silent.

"That's just what I'm talking about. It's hard to grasp the doings behind it. However, to hear the knights of Hyrule being completely annihilated by this strange spell…it all points to one thing: a Sheikah is likely the culprit."

"So the floating man in the black cloak that Rothuld mentioned to me…he's a Sheikah?"

Mardin nodded. "Most likely. I don't know of the man's intentions, but whatever they are, he's likely to accomplish them if nothing is done. Yes, the Realm of the Moon is an evil place and houses a darkness that can spread forth and break anyone from contact, but remember, the Sheikah thrived in darkness. They could easily adapt to it and not grow dispirited or hostile from grasping it inside them. You know what I'm talking about here: if a Sheikah can get into the Realm and adapt to the darkness inside without succumbing, he can use the power inside to become damn near unstoppable."

Link shivered as he thought of the worst-case scenario being described. Despite the fire in the other room warming up the air, Mardin's story sent a chill down his spine that spread through his entire body. He hugged himself for warmth as the chills made him feel cold. "S-so…" he stuttered, "what's the plan to stop it from happening?"

Mardin narrowed his eyes in thought as he remained silent for a short moment. Grinning slightly, he replied, "There's only one thing I think can be done: get rid of the Door. Destroy it. Cut this world off from the Realm of the Moon so no one can reach its power."

Just then, Link exploded into laughter, disbelief rooting itself in his mind. The craftsman looked shocked to see the sudden outbreak of mirth, and truthfully, Link was also surprised. Tears were rolling down his face by the time he made an effort to suppress the laughter and reply. "Destroy the Door of the Moon?" he giggled. "Destroy something holding back something so powerful? No offense, but you _must_ be crazy."

Mardin glared at him. "Difficult? Yes, it will be. Impossible? Not by any means. The Sages created the Door of Time, didn't they? Used it to seal the Triforce up for safekeeping? Used it to guard against evil beings that would charge into the Temple of Light and steal the sacred relic for their own ends? Dear me, boy, if something can be created, it can just as easily be destroyed!"

"Yeah? Well, I still think you're crazy… How will we get there? How do we find it without being blasted to bits by the person trying to steal its power? How do we actually _destroy_ it?"

"I have an idea," Mardin replied assuringly, although he was still firing a sharp glare his way. "Come with me. I have something to show you." He got out of his seat, kicking the stool back a couple feet, and lead Link to the adjacent room. As they entered, a strong wave of heat washed over them and soon forced their foreheads to release a couple drops of sweat. It was clearly a workshop, made evident by the strange-looking crafts littering the floor, a furnace in the corner, and a large anvil in the center carrying a long sword.

Mardin walked up to the anvil and gripped the sword's handle and handed it to the boy beside him. "Do you recognize your sword, Link?" he asked as he released his grip.

Link glanced at the glinting weapon, which was still cooling slightly from being bent into shape. The blade itself was longer than it previously was and was no longer scorched. At the base of the blade, where it curved into sharp wedges and stretched to a common point, was a symbol that looked eerily like the Triforce, and a few inches below it was a large black stone that sparkled in the firelight. The guard looked like it was pushed inward to give it a pentagonal shape, and the hilt gained a purplish color. "I hardly do. What have you done with it?"

"I remade it as nicely as I could. I spruced it up, increased its reach, and sharpened it. It should serve you a bit more nicely than what you've been using earlier." Mardin was beaming at it, clearly proud of his latest creation. "What do you think?"

Link just gaped at it, hypnotized. "It's…_beautiful_!" His hands hugged the handle tightly and were completely immersed in the comfort that it held for them.

"Well, they don't call Mardin the greatest craftsman in Hyrule for nothing!" Rothuld laughed from the back of the room, sitting down on a small stool that struggled to support his weight and chewing happily on a chunk of iron.

But then Link scowled as he slowly lowered the weapon. "It's great and all, but how will a _sword_ help us destroy the Door of the Moon?"

"Well, the Sages of Hyrule created the Door of Time to prevent evil's access into the Temple of Light, right?"

"Aye."

"Then these same sages can imbue this sword with the same power to repel the evil, right?"

"Hmm…" Link mumbled as he closed his eyes and tried to draw out in his mind what was being said. "So are you saying the Sages are still alive? I thought they died centuries ago."

"Of course they are! They're the representatives of the Goddesses. All because people haven't seen them for a long time doesn't mean they're _dead_. They look over Hyrule from many places, most of which cannot be seen or reached by sheer luck.

"To get their help, however, you need to go to both the Terra Shrine and the Ventus Shrine. To save you a bit of traveling time, visit the Terra Shrine first, located near Lake Hylia."

Link was unsure about this request. After what had happened in the Fire Temple, he looked at the plan in skepticism. "So, you want me to go to these shrines alone and see if I can get a bunch of old guys to help me?"

Mardin chuckled as he shook his head. "I'd only get in your way. I'm no fighter myself, and I'm sure Rothuld has matters in his own city to attend to."

Link sighed at the floor, not exactly looking forward to what was in store for him. However, simply looking at his new sword some more built his confidence. He knew it would serve him well and that in the most serious pinches, he could trust his life with it. Sheathing it, he looked back at Mardin and nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Mardin," he said gratefully.

The craftsman smiled and nodded back. "As soon as you have your sword completely infused with power, come back to Death Mountain to see me. We'll continue our plan from there."

Link backed up, bowing farewell to his elders and turned toward the door, not muttering as much as one syllable. As he stepped outside, he realized that he never did look out the windows long enough to see exactly how far up the mountain he actually was. He inched his head over the cliff and looked down; the next level of ground was a good few hundred below—one bit of imbalance on one's part would certainly lead to a tumble and disaster.

However, he wasn't feeling any fear from the height, a behavioral anomaly on his part. Rather, he enjoyed the view and the gust of wind blowing through his hair. _"HELLOOOOOOOOO!!"_ he yelled down, laughing as he heard his voice echo returning to him multiple times before being silenced.

"Hello," a low, dull voice replied behind him. Link started and lost his balance, wobbling over the edge and toppling backwards onto the ground. His heart hammered in his chest, and his breathing came very heavily.

What he saw, though, surprised him. An owl, about one-and-a-half times Link's size, was perched on a large rock near Mardin's doorway. Its brown feathers were painted with black spots that made it look like it had freckles, and its feathery beak was chattering up and down as its owner broke into laughter at the boy's sudden start at its monotonous voice.

"_Don't! Ever! Do that again!_ Link yelled after shooting up to his feet, still breathing heavily.

The owl's laughs quieted down, and it began to speak. "I'm sorry, young sir. This is my home, and I hardly ever have any visitors up here. Boredom is not an easy companion to have, you see, and I apologize for nearly causing you to fall."

His heart began to slow down, and not long afterward, he caught his breath. "I-it's fine…" he stammered. Just after he calmed down, though, his eyes popped wide open and stared at the huge talking owl. "Y-you can _talk_!?" he exclaimed.

The owl raised a large, bushy eyebrow. "Are you _really_ that surprised? You Hylians boast such huge advancements such as bows, swords, and magic, but you just stand and stare at the first animal that can speak in your tongue?"

_Huh, that's a pretty good point,_ Link thought in agreement, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Anyway, I've been thinking for the past couple hours about flying down below and getting something to eat, and since you don't really seem willing to risk your life to climb down the mountain yourself and risk getting horribly mangled, do you want to join me?"

The shock of seeing a talking owl didn't leave his body, but he nevertheless took the offer to heart. "You mean…by flying?" he asked stupidly.

The owl nodded.

"I don't know… I mean, I've never flown before, and I wonder whether it's safe or—GAH!! WHAT ARE YOU _DOING_!?" Link shouted one moment too late; the owl rushed off his perch, seized his arms, and took off into the sky, a cloud of debris gusting back from the wind of its wings.

Link's screams were able to be heard just about everywhere as the owl that clutched his arms jetted through the air at scary speeds. His legs dangled through the air as the bird carved the sky with its unique and somewhat-reckless flying style. With gravity aiding the fall, they flew even faster. Air filled his open mouth as it rushed past them, and as they passed over the rooftops of Kakariko Village, he could've sworn that he swallowed a bug.

Past the village was the vast land of Hyrule itself, with its rolling hills, trees dotting the landscape, and Zora River grazing the eastern border. The afternoon sun shone through the low clouds, and its rays of light were visible from the moisture in the sky. The clouds' shadows moved along the ground like blankets as the wind carried them eastward. The air rushing past the two fliers was rather cold to the touch, possibly from the speed of the flight. To the owl, it didn't matter much, but shivers were traveling through Link's body like pulses of electricity. His throat was now sore from the screaming, but the owl held a really good grip on him. He wasn't going to fall. Not now.

From over a few hundred feet up in the air, he could see _everything_ in Hyrule. To his right was the towering wall of Lon Lon Ranch, and behind him (although it was kind of hard to twist his head back a complete semi-circle) was the beautiful Hyrule Castle being buffeted from the clouds and radiating the sun's light back to the land beautifully. To his right, he could see a faint outline of the desert sands blowing up from the scorching wind.

It was the most amazing ride that Link ever went on. At this point in the flight, he completely forgot his fear of heights. He was just completely enamored from the sight of the fair land, and he wished that he could just stay up there until the end of time, soaking it all in. But alas, nothing is forever, and majestic flights in the heavens were no different. Wind rushed past his blond hair as the owl dive-bombed toward a point near the Lost Woods.

When they were just a few feet above the ground, the owl let go of Link's arms and plopped him down painfully to the ground. He groaned as he shook his aching head. He'd have cursed the owl for such a careless landing, but he didn't have the heart to after such an amazing ride. He got up to his feet to thank the owl, but when he looked up to the sky and opened his mouth, it was already flying away toward the river.

"Thank you…" he whispered sadly, wishing that he could go again and absorb the sights anew. He readjusted his clothes before setting off to the south, already dearly missing the heavens.

Because he landed close to the Lost Woods, Link's trip was much shorter than it would've been if he landed near the bridge; however, the trip was still long, as it took him a few hours just to get to the gate. He gasped happily as it grew larger in tandem with his inching closer every second.

The gate, however, was actually more of a fence, now that he had the time to look at it. It was only a little taller than he was, and even then, it didn't really prevent access, for it was already opened about halfway. He taunted the "gate" as he marched by. "Nyeh, nyeh! Try and stop me now!" he teased at the inanimate object. Had there been a guard or something manning the gate, he probably would've been taken away by force or something, but no one was there! He reasoned that he might as well enjoy his freedom of travel as much as he could while he was still alone and before he had to continue walking and getting back to work.

He trotted on, the dark memories of the Fire Temple and his near-death experience thrown behind him and no longer holding him back to what many adults back at Castle Town would refer to as "his proper place."

* * *

**Somewhere along the lines, I feel that I'm making a fatal mistake... Ah, well. At least it's better than what I originally had.**

**Until next time, guys!**


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